The Real Chernobyl Diaries
by CalebTheBass5
Summary: The account of the horrible disaster that ravaged Ukraine on April 26, 1986 from the perspective of the beloved Katyusha Braginskaya. Rated T to be safe.


**Hi everybody! So I've finnished a new fic. For those who read my last fic, I tried to make this one longer. I hope you like it! Please review!**

_Pryvet_1! My name is Katyusha Braginskaya, also known as The Ukrainian SSR, or just Ukraine. Most people know my country for having a primarily agricultural economy, though along with that, I make a little extra money by way of nuclear power plants. My most delivering plant is the one that sits atop the beautiful Ukrainian city of Chernobyl, a city neighboring my capital, Kiev. I often visit this plant to check up on maintenance and productivity, sometimes because my boss tells me I have to, and sometimes on my own terms. I'm sorry to keep rambling on. I just figured you would like a little bit of background information.

"_Da_," I respond to my boss's order. He tells me I haven't been to Chernobyl recently enough, people are starting to get suspicious. "I'm sorry," I tell him, "I'll go right away!"

"_Spasybi i do pobachennya_2, Katyusha," my superior states. I leave his office and walk down the halls of Kiev's capitol building. It's a relatively large building; the first thing built using the funds brought in from Chernobyl. I smile thinking back to the recent past, the day of my bi-monthly meeting with my president, the day that the treasurer introduced the idea of a nuclear power plant. Ah, I love how thrifty and resourceful the people of my country are.

By the end of my daydream, I am at my car. I unlock the door, open it, get in, and crank my vehicle. I begin roll down my window as I drive down the road. Although I now have a little money, I still have trouble paying my _brat_3, Ivan, for gas, and for some strange reason, turning on the heater or cooler drains the precious liquid on which this automobile runs. The cold, spring wind of Ukraine blows through my platinum blonde locks of hair. It's a cold that would make any American shiver, but I am accustomed to such temperatures.

I finally arrive at the means of access to the Chernobyl plant. I drive up to the security entrance and present the officer with a small card, my license allowing me to enter this facility. "Good to see you again, Mrs. Braginskaya," the man tells me.

I blush. "Aleksiy, I've told you every time I've come here! Please call me Katyusha."

"Yes ma'am, Mrs. Brag… I mean Katyusha."

"Thank you, Aleksiy." He opens the metal gate that separates the plant from the outside world. I drive my car through the threshold and park on a little section of concrete that has my name painted on it.

I get out of my car and close the door as three workers in Type 6 Hazmat suits walk out to greet me. There are two men and one woman. I have known the girl since she was born. The two men are complete strangers to me though. "Long time, no see, Katy," the woman tells me.

"We really should keep in touch better, Svetlana," I tell her. She introduces me to the men she walked out with. I now know them to be Dmitry and Kato, two new recruits to the Chernobyl team. We walk inside to the decontamination room.

"So, what's on the schedule for today?" I ask Svetlana as I put on my custom-made Type 1 Hazmat suit. (Due to certain body parts, I couldn't fit in the normal Hazmat suits, and my boss said if I'm getting one made, it might as well be one that would protect me from anything. Hence, _Type 1_.)

"We'll be going to reactor number four today to do a systems test," she responds. I sigh. Good, nothing to serious. After I come here, I have to file a report on my experience. I hate to do all the paperwork on days where we do drills. I can never think of anything to write except for, _"We sat, huddled in the corner of the room for five hours."_

It's a long walk to reactor number four but that's okay, working on the farm has developed my muscles to where I could walk for a week and not be as tired as someone else is after walking for five minutes. As we walk to our destination, I talk to the workers about the plant's assets; productivity is up by seven percent, an all-time high. After walking for what seemed like forever, we finally arrived at the building that housed reactor number four.

We walk into the giant structure to view the reactor. A systems test is a simple procedure that the workers perform every now and then to make sure all parts of the reactor are functioning properly.

We enter a room with three white walls and one wall made of glass, through which we could see reactor four. We stand in the center of the room and I wait for the test to begin. The two men talk quietly to each other as I make small talk with Svetlana. Suddenly, large metal sheets block the exits. "When was that installed?" I ask suspiciously.

A voice comes over a speaker, "You see Katyusha, today we'll be doing a little more than a systems test."

"What?" everyone in the room asks simultaneously.

The voice laughs in response. "Well, we're going to be experimenting with a safety emergency core cooling feature. Your boss suggested the metal blockades; he didn't want his little _fermy divchyna_4 to run away."

What the hell is wrong with him? He locks me in a room during an experiment? I look over at Svetlana. Her expression is full of fear, obviously meaning this can't be good. Although I am scared out of my mind, I try to reassure Svetlana, "I'm sure it'll be fine. Emergency core cooling takes place during a normal shutdown; this can't be that much different."

She looks at me and smiles. She mouths the words _thank you_. I give her a thumbs up and smile back.

"Systems preparing for shutdown," the voice says over the intercom. We sit in the room for five minutes and everything seems to be going well. I sigh. "See Katyusha?" I tell myself, "You had yourself all psyched out for nothing."

Russia would have been furious with me for not spitting over my shoulder5. Moments after my statement, a red light begins to flash. "There's been some sort of malfunction!" the speaker shouts, "There's been an extreme power incre-"

_BOOM! _The room shakes. My ears ring as I close my eyes tightly. When I open my eyes my view is of utter catastrophe. The lid has blown off of the nuclear reactor and there is a cloud of smoke leading from the top of the reactor through a large hole in the roof. Svetlana runs to me and embraces me; tears are streaming down her face.

Surprisingly, our room is untouched. The glass keeping out these harmful toxins is intact… BOOM! Another explosion comes from the reactor. This blast shatters the glass a flings us all through the wall that was to our backs. I should really learn to spit over my shoulder…

I'm laying on my back now. My whole body aches and my head is laying in a pool of blood. I hope that's my ears are just bleeding and that's not from the back of my head.

It takes all of my strength to pick my head up. I look around at all the damage. Tears well in my eyes, not from the pain but from what I see. The prize jewel of my country is now a hazard to my country. I look up through the now blown-away roof and I see huge plumes of gas and debris blocking out the sun.

I look around the room I have been blown into. I count the Hazmat suits, _odyn, dva, try… _where is number four?

Apparently the shards of broken glass cut through my suit. I can feel my arms burning in certain places. I slowly roll over to the Hazmat suit nearest to me. I prop myself up on my elbow and rub my glove against the piece of plastic shielding a face. It only smudges the grime but enough so to where I could tell it was the man the Svetlana had identified as Kato. I shake him, over and over and over until finally, his eyes flutter open.

"Mrs. Katyusha?" he manages.

"It's okay, Kato, I'll get help," I assure him.

I pat his shoulder and begin to make my way to the other Hazmat suit on the opposite side of the room. Repeating the process I performed on the other body, I soon discover that it is Dmitry. He takes longer to awaken but he finally regains consciousness. I tell him what I told Kato and I roll away again.

I just lay in the center of the room trying to think. Suddenly I feel a vibration in my boot. My cell phone begins to chime, "maru kaite chikyuu! maru kaite chikyuu! maru kaite chikyuu, boku wa RO-SH-IA!"

I shimmy my leg, causing the phone to slide up the suit. It reaches my thigh and I pull my arms into the suit to grab it. I answer right before it stops ringing.

"Da?" I say, putting the phone up to my face.

"Sestra!" Russia shouts, "Are you okay? I can see smoke coming from towards your house!"

"Da, da, I'm fine Russia," I lie.

"Ukraine," Russia says in a flat tone, "I can tell when you're lying. I'm on my way over right now."

"I'm sorry, Russia," I tell him, "There was an explosion at reactor number four in Chernobyl. Don't worry about me though. You need to check on Belarus. Reactor 4 is the one near the Dnieper River. She's probably worse off than I am. "

"But Sestra."

"No buts, Russia. Please, do this for me!' I plead. There is a long silence from his end of the phone. I thought he'd hung up on me when finally he responds, "Okay, starsha sestra."

"I'll speak to you later Russia."

I hang up the phone and sigh in relief. I'm glad that Russia is not coming here; I don't want my little brat in the middle of this chaos. At least if he goes to Belarus, he won't be directly exposed to it.

I lay here, thinking. Being on the brink of death gives you a lot to think about. Speaking of thinking and death, I've never really thought about what it would feel like to die. I figured that my country would strive one day and I wouldn't have to worry about meeting my creator for a long time. But here I am.

I never thought that I could die in an accident. Country personifications, such as I, usually pass on after the country they represent falls. I suppose this could bring utter chaos upon Ukraine, so maybe death is inevitable.

Reality seizes me by way of pain. The burning on my body does not hurt nearly as bad as the pain within. My capital being so close, I'm sure it was effected too. I can tell because deep within my chest, I can feel my heart ache as if acid is eating away at it from the inside.

I once again look around me, taking in the view of the wreckage. I hear a moan and then a cracked voice.

"Mrs. Braginskaya?" the voice creaks.

"Yes?" I respond using all of my remaining strength.

"I don't know how much longer I can hang on," the voice (Kato) responds.

I sigh, tears now streaming down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Kato, but I don't think I can move anymore to get help."

There is a long pause. I begin to think that my recently acquired friend has gone when I hear a small chuckle.

"This isn't your fault, you didn't know what they had planned. You seem like a wonderful woman and I'm glad to have known you. Though our time was short, I hope you never forget me. And Mrs. Braginskaya?"

"Yes, Kato?" I respond through my sobs.

Another pause. "You've got to stay strong. You have to live. Ukraine is a great country that doesn't need to fall now. Thank you, Mrs. Braginskaya. I was an honor to be a citizen of the country you stand for"

I hear him take three shaky breaths and then exhale for the last time, and then I break down. Never has a citizen of Ukraine been so thankful and loyal to me. For one reason, the government and workers at Chernobyl are the only people who know my true identity. I can't just walk around, "I am Ukraine! You are my people!" This is why we are given human names.

I lay, wallowing in my tears. The puddle my head is resting in is now a mixture of blood, which I had proven to be from my ears, and my still falling tears. I don't know how long I've been here, how long I've cried, how long it's been since Russia called.

And with that thought I hear my brother's voice calling out, "Katyusha? Sestra? Ukraine? Where are you?"

"Russia?" my voice cracks. I hear the sound of feet shifting through rubble. Two sets of feet. I wipe away the tears from my eyes with my dirty hands. I then look up to see two faces looking down at me. My brother, Russia, and a face I really didn't expect to see, my little sister, Belarus.

"Ivan," I say, "I told you to stay away. And why on earth would you bring Natalia?"

"Brother Russia did not bring me," my little sister informs me, "I would not let him leave without taking me too. I was worried."

I look into my sister's eyes. Her face is covered with soot, her dress has holes burnt through it. "I'm a little more worried about you," I tell her, "The explosion… we're so close to Belarus."

"Sister, you were right in front of the reactor when it exploded. You're far worse off than I am. Now, let's get you out of that Hazmat suit."

She pulls a knife out of her sleeve and get on her knees next to me. She starts next to my head, cutting through the thick plastic like butter. She had me out of the suit in no time flat, so I lay there, in front of my two siblings in nothing but my undergarments. They both cradle me propping me up with their arms behind my back.

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to walk away from this," I tell my brother and sister regretfully.

They smile at me and I try to smile back, "If this is the last time I get to talk to you, I have some things I'd like to tell you. Russia?" I look up to my brother.

"Yes, Katy?" he says trying to fight back his own tears.

"I'm sorry that I haven't got to see you that much lately. I'm sorry that I never could pay you back for all the money I owe you for gas and everything else. The reason I built this place was to do so, among other things."

My brother wipes his nose on the sleeve of his coat. His purple eyes look deep into my eyes, "You never had to worry about it. I told you over and over again. But you, being the wholehearted, generous person you are, wouldn't rest until you could pay me back for something so obsolete. I always would give you whatever you needed because you did the same for Natalia and I when we were young. You gave me your scarf, even though you were cold. You gave us food, even when you were hungry. You gave us love, even when we did nothing but drive you crazy by fighting with each other. You gave us hope, even in the darkest of hours."

He was crying, I was crying. I look over to Belarus. "Natalia. My beautiful little sister. I'm sorry for getting in your way of things you thought were important. I was only trying to protect you from what could harm you and what you didn't need. I'm sorry I've been such a bewitching older sister and I only want you to be happy."

"Sister, this is a time when I should be sorry," Natalia states, no weeping, "I've been so evil to you, even though you are the nicest person I've ever met. I always have loved you, I just have trouble expressing that. I'm envious of you. You have the most beautiful hair. A platinum blonde that looks as the snow flurries in winter. You have 'large tracts of land.' Guys eye you down from a mile away. Ever since you had to leave, brother Russia has reminded me of you so much. He has your hair. He's tall, representing the vastness of his land. I have done nothing but want to be by his side because of this. I have dark blonde hair, and nothing to show for my land. All I've ever wanted to be…is like you, Sestra Ukraine."

My now tired eyes are still gushing tears. It's sad that it took this to get us to express our true feelings for each other. We have always loved each other but we never get the chance to tell each other that.

So, I look up into their eyes, "I love you, Russia, Belarus."

"I love you too," they both respond at once.

I sigh happily. "I'm tired," I tell my siblings, " think I'm going to rest my eyes."

"No, Sestra! Don't!" My siblings shout. But it's too late. I'm too tired so I begin to drift off into a deep, deep slumber.

I see a bright light. I try to blink, but I can't. it's like my eyes are pried open. "Katy?" I hear a voice.

I try to answer, but my voice won't work. "Katy, can you hear us?" The voice asks.

Once again I try to answer but I can't say anything. I need to answer, so I make a light grunt. Nothing to loud, but apparently the origin of the voice could hear me.

At this time, I once again have the ability to blink. My eyes open and close furiously. "Looks like she's doing alright," the voice says, to whom I do not know.

My vision clears and I'm in a hospital room. I have tubes in my nose and throat. I look to my left and my little sister is asleep on a pallet on the floor. I turn my head back to where I can see in front of me. There is a man in a white coat talking to Russia. A sudden smile comes across my aching face as I realize I'm alive.

"Hmmmm! MMMMM!" I try to shout, the tubes keeping me from doing so. The doctor looks over and smiles. "Looks like she's awake. Let's get that tube out of you."

He walks over and removes the tube allowing me to breath on my own. I gasp, filling my lungs with my own power. "Russia!" I shout, still panting.

My brother runs over to hug me. I kiss him on the cheek. He's obviously crying because my lips now taste salty. "Natalia!" my brother shouts as he breaks our hug, "Natalia! Wake up! Katyusha's awake!"

My sister sits straight up and looks at me. I smile again, just to reiterate the fact. She smiles from ear to ear. I have never seen her smile so big before. She runs to me and hugs me. I kiss her cheek too. She backs away and stands next to Russia. I smile once again. I can't help myself. Here we are, together as a family. Not exactly at the greatest point we've ever been at, but a family, nonetheless. One, big, happy family.

It took me less time than I would've guessed to recover. Once I got out, I attended two funerals. One for Kato, who died right next to me. His family was grateful for me coming. What else could I have done? His last wishes were that I never forget him. I did cry at the burial ceremony, of course, but I was happy to have met him, and I was happy he didn't have to suffer very long.

The second funeral was for Svetlana, my missing number four in my Hazmat suit count. While Kato, Dmitry, and I were blown into the next room. Svetlana, poor Svetlana, was blown out of the building entirely. She died on impact with the cold, hard concrete surrounding the building. The mortician had done a great job. She looked beautiful, though I prefer to remember her the way I saw her before the funeral. As a final parting gift for my dear friend, I removed a long piece of fabric from my bag. With permission from her family, I wrapped the blue and yellow, handmade scarf around the neck of my dearly departed friend. I then kissed her forehead, knowing that she was looking down from a far better place where there is no more pain.

**Ukrainian Translation Guide:**

**1) Pryvet: Hello**

**2) Spasybi i do pobachennya: Thank you and goodbye**

**3) brat: brother**

**4) fermy divchyna: farm girl**

**5) spitting over your shoulder: in Russia, in order for one to ward away a jinx, one would spit over his or her shoulder, much like knocking on wood in America**


End file.
